pie

Weekends to me, call for comfort food. Lazy lunches grazing and catching up on the past week. Sometimes I cook and create during my days off, some days I want to unwind and opt for convenient options. I believe in the 80/20 rule, sometimes it’s better to let someone else do the hard work, so you can enjoy some quality time with your loved ones. I needed convenience this weekend, and Higgidy came to the rescue.

After the mud fest came the calm. We left Scotland on Tuesday and drove back down into England. We literally left the rain at the Scottish border. We headed to Lancaster for a few days to catch up with Charlie’s family, who we don’t get to see often enough. I have been to that area a handful of times now, and every time I go the sky is as dark as slate, fields getting soaked in the Northern downpours. I make a joke every time we drive North that way, because the sky grows darker and darker the nearer we get, that it really does always rain up North. Expectations were low on the weather front, but the closer we got to our destination, the sunnier it was getting. This, was pure luck. We enjoyed this luck exploring waterfalls and trails around the area. Catching up with his family and enjoying long, rested nights in a real bed.

Now, well rested after a lovely few days back on our beloved boat, we are getting ready for another festival filled couple of weeks. All caught up on sleep and rest. It’s funny how you don’t realise how tired you are until you stop. Your body keeps pushing on through the long ass days and keeps you going. Like the good machine that it is. I had a to-do list the size of my arm this weekend, but as soon as I plonked my butt on the sofa, I knew that it just wasn’t gonna happen. Orange is the New Black and Kardashians were all of a sudden top priority. Yup, my body was on time out mode.

I did muster up the energy to get a little baking in. Stopping off at my parents for a night I was treated to a garden overflowing with juicy goodies. Mainly raspberries, oh the raspberries. My parents were out-of-town so I figured I’d help them with the gardening and got a big tub load of those red babies to bring home with me. All in the name of recipe testing Mum! Paired with some delicious peaches from the market and this glorious galette was born.

In a bowl, mix your dry pastry ingredients. Add the coconut oil and mix with a knife to create breadcrumb-like bits. Slowly add the water and use your hands to form a dough. If too dry, add extra water to the dough.

Once you have formed your dough, cover it and let it sit in the fridge for 30 mins.

While the dough chills, make your syrup. In a saucepan over a low heat, combined all syrup ingredients and stir well. Bring to a low bubble, stirring regularly. Once the mixture has thickened, leave to once side – it will thicken up more as it cools.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Grab your dough from the fridge and roll it out into a rough circle. I did mine about half a centimetre thick.

Using a spatula or spoon, spread out an even coating of your syrup all over the dough.

Cut your peaches into segments and arrange them on the dough, leaving about 2 inches border around the edge. Scatter raspberries and blueberries over the peaches. Drizzle more syrup over the fruit.

Gently fold in your dough border. Don’t worry it the pastry is a bit delicate, you can stick it back down with your fingers easily.

Rub almond milk onto the bare bits of pastry crust.

Place in oven and cook for 30-35 mins, until the pastry starts to brown.

OK, So I know halloween has been and gone, but Autumn is still alive and kickin’, and that means pumpkin in all it’s glorious forms!

So technically this ‘Pumpkin Pie’ is actually a butternut squash pie, but that just doesn’t sound quite as good. But the squash gives a slightly better flavour and texture than the pumpkins that are around at the moment.

This pie was inspired by a good friend of mine over at Happy Hearted Kitchen and also from one of Tom Hunt’s recipes. It’s not too sweet, so if you’re not a huge sweet fan, fear not, for I think this suits most peoples taste.

Peel and cut the squash into small chunks. Place on a baking tray, and sprinkle with the cinnamon, ginger, sugar and cardamon pods. Drizzle with maple syrup. Cover with foil and roast for 30-45 minutes (or until soft) Be careful not to colour the squash.

In a food processor, mix the oats, walnuts and dates until starting to combine and stick to the sides. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon and melted coconut oil, blend until fully mixed into a sticky consistency.

Grease and line a pie tin with baking paper. Take your dough mixture from the processor and push it around the tin with your hands, filling all the gaps, spreading it around evenly.

*Now, if you prefer your crust a little crunchy, you can pop your crust in the oven for 10 mins before adding the mixture. I prefer mine softer, so missed this step out*

Remove the squash from the oven and place in a food processor. Blend until smooth and allow to cool. You can mash the squash if you prefer.

In a bowl, mix the blended squash, egg and milk until fully combined. Add mixture to the pie tin on top of the crust.

Cook for 25-30 mins. If you have pre-cooked your crust, the cooking time may be less. Check back after 15 mins, to avoid burning the crust.